1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to art of handling crop material and, more particularly, is concerned with an apparatus and method for handling crop material packages such as large round bales of hay.
2. Description of the Prior Art
For many years the predominate method of harvesting crop material such as hay or the like in the United States and many other countries was by formation of hay into small rectangular bales. In this method, the previously cut and windrowed hay is continuously picked up and formed into the wire- or twine-tied small rectangular bales using an automatic baler. These small rectangular bales normally range in weight from approximately 50 to 125 pounds. However, for a variety of reasons, such as the scarcity and increasing cost of hay harvesting labor, an alternative method of harvesting hay came into use more than a decade ago and has grown in popularity until it has substantially replaced the small rectangular bales in many hay harvesting regions of the country.
This alternative method utilizes a hay roll forming machine, generally referred to as a large round baler, to pick up loose windrowed hay or the like and form it into a large round roll or bale normally ranging in weight from approximately 600 to 1500 pounds and in axial length and diameter from approximately 4 to 6 feet. The success of this alternative method is in part due to the acceptable moisture shedding and weathering attributes of the large round bale when it is left resting in the field. Such attributes eliminate the necessity for immediate removal of large round bales from the field after they have been formed and deposited there by the baler. Small rectangular bales generally require removal the same or next day in order to protect such bales from the sudden onset of inclement weather which frequently occurs in most regions of the country during the hay harvesting season.
Such attributes of large round bales eliminate the need for the farmer to devote immediate attention to handling large round bales to remove them from the field and thereby allow removal, if desired, at a later time during slack periods. However, the large size of large round bales requires that efficient handling methods be devised in order to make the large round bale method feasible as a one-man hay harvesting and handling system for the farmer. Since the size of such bales do not lend themselves to being handled by the manual labor of several persons, let alone one man, some mechanical apparatus for handling them must be provided.
Single large round bale handling units currently available, such as three-point hitch, tractor mounted rear end loaders and tractor mounted front end loaders, are believed to be adequate for a farmer that has just a few bales to move. However, such units are uneconomical and inefficient for farming operations where large numbers of these bales must be removed from the field, transported to distant feedlots or storage areas and further handled at such locations in carrying out livestock feeding operations.
Heretofore, various prior art apparatuses have been proposed and employed for loading, transporting and unloading these large round bales. Exemplary prior art apparatuses are described and illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. to Spasuik (3,841,504), McFarland (4,042,140), Honomichl, Sr. (4,076,138), Adam (4,117,940), Johnson (4,232,986 and 4,249,842), Gray (4,329,102), Campbell et al (4,508,359), Lund (4,580,843) and Chambers (4,718,806). Certain of these apparatuses, such as the ones disclosed by the Honomichl, Sr., Adam and Chambers patents, advantageously employ an elongated frame formed of laterally-spaced longitudinally-extending guide rails or channels upon a forward end of which the bales are placed and then moved toward the rear end of the frame until multiple large round bales are accumulated in a row on the apparatus.
However, the apparatuses of these patents employ features which penetrate into the crop material of the bales in order to either move the bales along the guide rails or retain them at their displaced positions once moved there. For example, in the Honomichl, Sr. patent, a moving conveyor chain is employed having hooks or pins which extend outwardly to penetrate and engage the bale in order to advance the bales in the rearward direction along the guide rails with movement of the conveyor chain. In the Adams and Chambers patents, biased dogs are employed which pivot and project outwardly to penetrate and retain the bales once they have been moved in the rearward direction to the displaced position.
Because of recurring drought conditions in many regions of the country the price of crop material such as hay has continued to increase making hay a significant cash crop. As a result, there is a growing trend toward application of plastic covers to large round bales to further enhance preservation of the crop material. A major drawback of the apparatuses of these patents is that the same features on them which penetrate the large round bales in order to move them or retain them once moved will also produce tearing of the plastic covers used for covering the bales, thereby reducing the ability of the covers to shed moisture from the round bales.
Consequently, a need still exists for an apparatus which will effectively handle large round bales without penetrating and tearing their plastic covers.